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LjTjajTjTnjTTLruTJiruiJxrijrmn^^  nxuinrLruxruTJU  ._ 


OTLrtJ 

AN 


EPISTLE 


OF  THE 


F^IF^T    PRE}$IDE}NGY, 


TO   THE 


Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints, 
in  General  Conference  Assembled. 


READ    APRIL    8th,    1887, 

AT  THE  £ 

FIFTY-SEVENTH  GENERAL  ANNUAL  CONFERENCE,    | 

HELD    AT    PROVO,   UTAH. 

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SALT    LAKE    CITY,  UTAH,  c 

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THE     DESERET    NEWS    COMPANY,    PRINTERS.  £ 


1887.  C 

"iJT-nJinjirinnjTjriJLnjTJTriJiJiJxr^ 


Ill 


.   3- 


AN  EPISTLE  OF  THE  FIRST  PRESIDENCY 

To  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints  in 
General  Conference  assembled. 


INTRODUCTORY. 

Dear  Brethren  and  Sisters : 

Once  more,  in  the  providence  of  the 
Almighty,  we  are  permitted  to  address 
you  in  an  Epistle.  It  would  give  us  very 
great  pleasure  to  be  able  to  communi- 
cate to  you  our  views  orally;  but 
through  circumstances  with  which  you 
are  all  familiar  this  gratification  is  de- 
nied us.  We  rejoice,  however,  that  the 
privilege  of  communicating  a  few 
of  our  thoughts  in  writing  is  still  at 
our  disposal.  We  have  profound  feel- 
ings of  thanksgiving  to  our  God  for 
His  goodness  and  mercy  unto  His  peo- 
ple. Personally  we  have  reason  to  be 
very  grateful  to  Him  for  His  preserv- 
ing care  in  our  behalf. 

Zion  has  been  passing  through  a 
series  of  trials  which  God  will  un- 
doubtedly overrule  for  our  good.  The 
experience  of  the  past  two  years  and 
a  half  has  convinced  us  that  there  has 
been  a  divine  providence  in  all  that  has 
taken  place,  and  in  the  shaping  of 
ordeals  to  which  the  Saints  have  been 
subjected.  Painful  as  they  have  been 
to  very  many,  the  day  will  come  when 
they  will  be  acknowledged  as  having 
been  the  means  of- bringing  great  bene- 
fits to  Zion. 

The  Twelve  Apostles  and  their 
Counselors  have  labored  with  great 
efficiency,  as  far  as  they  have  had  op- 
portunity, among  the  people,  and  have 
been  active  in  attending  to  the  duties 
devolving  upon  them.  The  health  of 
all  has  been  good.    Recent  letters  from 


those  outside  the  Territory  convey  the 
intelligence  that  they1  are  enjoying 
♦heir  labors  and  are  successful  in  the 
performance  thereof.  The  latest  ad- 
vices from  President  Woodruff  assure 
us  of  his  good  health.  Though  he  is 
now  past  80  years  of  age, his  bodily  and 
mental'vigor  appear  unimpaired. 

We  ourselves  are  in  the  enjoyment 
of  good  health,  and  able  to  perform 
our  duties  with  satisfaction  to  our- 
selves and  pleasure  in  the  liberty  that 
we  enjoy.  President  Joseph  F.  Smith's 
health  has  been  somewhat  impaired, 
but  he  is  now  fully  restored. 

ZEAL  AND  DILIGENCE   OF  THE  PEOPLE . 

The  most  gladdening  news  we  can 
communicate  to  the  Conference  of  the 
Church  in  our  Epistle  is  that  from 
every  part  of  the  Jan,d  which  we  in- 
habit, gratifying  reports  have  been 
received  of  the  zeal  and  diligence  of 
the  people  in  attending  to  the  duties  of 
their  religion.  Probably  at  no  time  in 
our  history  has  there  been  a  better  dis- 
position manifested  by  the  people  to 
attend  their  meetings  on  the  Sabbath 
day,  and  on  fast  days,  and  the  prayer 
meetings  which  have  been  held  during 
week  day  evenings.  Meetings  have 
been  held  at  suitable  private  residences 
on  many  of  the  blocks  in  the  city  and 
country  wards  throughout  these 
mountains.  These  have  gener- 
ally been  crowded,  and  have  been 
occupied  by  the  Elders  in  giving  in- 
struction, and  by  the  Saints  in  bearing 


testimony  and  in  prayer.  All  the 
Elders  who  have  been  free  to  travel 
who  have  reported  the  results  of 
their  labors  to  us,  agree  in  say- 
ing that  at  no  time  in  their 
experience  have  the  meetings  which 
they  have  held  been  so  crowded  as 
during  the  past  winter.  These  evi- 
dences of  the  faith  and  diligence  of 
the  people  are  exceedingly  gratifying 
to  us.  We  have  been  cheered  in  listen- 
ing to  them ;  for  we  know  that  when 
the  Latter-day  Saints  repent  of  their 
sins  and  devote  themselves  assiduous- 
ly to  keeping  the  commandments  of 
Go'l,  their  enemies  cannot  have  much 
power  over  them. 

As  a  people,  in  times  past  we  have 
been  careless  and  indifferent  in  many 
directions.  Neglect  of  duties  has  been 
too  common  everywhere.  Hypocrisy 
has  been  indulged  in  to  some  extent, 
and  a  laxity  has  prevailed  in  many 
quarters  concerning  the  keeping  of  the 
laws  of  God  which  is  not  in  accord 
with  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel.  Under 
these  circumstances  the  Lord  has 
permitted  persecutions  and  trials 
to  come  upon  His  people  that  have  had 
the  effect  of  stirring  them  up  to  greater 
diligence.  When  the  Lord,  for  any 
reason,  turns  His  face  away  from  His 
people,  and  is  slow  to  hear  their  cries, 
thorough  repentance  on  their  part  and  a 
complete  abandonment  of  their  evil 
ways  are  sure  to  bring  back  His  favor, 
and  to  cause  His  countenance  to  shine 
upon  them.  This  has  been  the  case  in 
every  age  when  God  has  had  a  people 
upor  the  earth.  In  our  own  day  we 
have  seen  frequent  illustrations  of  this. 
W*  have  never  feared  for  the  people, 
nor  lor  the  prosperity  of  the  work, 
when  the  Latter-day  Saints  have  been 
fully  alive  to  the  duties  and  require- 
ments of  their  religion.  But  when 
they  have  been  careless  and  neglectful, 
or  disobedient  and  hard  in  their  hearts, 
then  we  have  trembled;  for  when  the 
Saints  are  in  such  a  condition 
the  displeasure  of  the  Lord  is 
sure  to  be  awakened  against  them,  and 
His  scourges   are   likely  to  fall  upon 


them.  The  Lord  does  not  permit  His 
enemies,  nor  the  enemies  of  His  peo- 
ple, to  prevail  over  them  for  any 
length  of  time  when  they  are  living 
near  unto  Him  and  complying  strictly 
with  His  will.  All  His  promises,  of  the 
brightest  and  most  glorious  character, 
encouraging  and  hopeful,  are  given  to 
those  who  keep  His  commandments 
and  who  seek  earnestly  to  carry1  out  in 
their  lives  the  principles  of  salvation 
which  He  has  revealed.  When  a  peo- 
ple are  in  this  condition  their  enemies 
cannot  have  much  power  over  them. 

WHY  OUR  ENEMIES   HAVE  FAILED. 

We  attribute  the  failure  on  the  part 
of  our  enemies  to  accomplish  their 
wicked  purposes  during  the  last  session 
of  Congress  to  the  fact  that  the  Saints 
were  more  true  to  their  professions, 
and  were  offering  up,  in  sincere  hu- 
mility and  faith,  their  petitions  to  the 
God  of  heaven  for  His  interposition 
in  their  behalf.  When  we  consider  the 
character  of  the  measures  which  were 
framed  in  the  first  place,  and  which  it 
was  the  evident  purpose  of  our  ene- 
mies to  force  through  and  make  law, 
it  is  clearly  to  be  seen  that  our 
Father  in  heaven  has  restrained  the  ef- 
forts of  the  wicked  and  defeated  them 
in  their  iniquitous  designs.  For  a 
while  it  seemed  inevitable  that  every 
liberty  would  be  wrested  from  us,  and 
that  we  should  be  brought  into  sub- 
jectiora  to  a  most  odious  tyranny  and 
be  stripped  of  every  right  which  be 
longs  to  free  men.  And  though  the 
measures  which  have  been  enacted  are 
odious  to  the  principles  of  true  repub- 
licanism, still  our  enemies  are  dis- 
appointed in  their  schemes  and 
feel  that  they  have  been 
defeated;  while  the  Saints  rejoice  in 
the  goodness  of  God,  and  feel  assured 
that  by  His  help  and  their  continued 
faithfulness  in  keeping  His  command- 
ments and  relying  upon  Him,  they  will 
be  able  to  endure,  with  patience  and 
without  grievous  loss,  all  that  the  ene- 
mies of  His  Kingdom  shall  have 
]    power  to  bring  upon  them. 


DUTIES  OF  THE  PRIESTHOOD. 

It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that 
the  teachings  which  have  heretofore 
been  given  to  the  officers  of  the 
Church,  and  which  it  is  not  necessary 
to  repeat  at  length  here,  should  be  kept 
in  mind  and  carried  out  in  the  spirit  in 
which  they  were  given.  Great  respon- 
sibility rests  at  the  present  time  upon 
those  Eiders  who  have  liberty  of  ac- 
tion, and  they  should  be  untiring  in 
their  efforts  to  magnify  their  Priest- 
hood and  to  do  everything  possible  to- 
wards building  up  and  strengthen- 
ing the  Saints  in  the  practice 
of  those  holy  principles  which  God  has 
revealed.  Much  depends  in  these  days 
of  trial  upon  those  who  bear  the  Lesser 
Priesthood.  They  have  opportunities 
which  are  of  unequalled  advantage. 
They  visit,  or  should  visit,  the  people 
at  their  homes.  They  talk  to  them  by 
their  firesides.  They  can  see  their  in- 
ner lives,  and  learn  wherein  they  need 
strengthening  aud  guiding,  in  order  to 
be  more  efficient  Latter-day  Saints. 
When  Priests  and  Teachers  understand 
their  duties  and  seek  to  enjoy  the  spirit 
of  their  offices,  they  can  do  an  im- 
mense amount  of  good;  for  they  are 
brought  directly  in  contact  with  the 
people;  they  learn  their  wants,  are 
made  familiar  with  tneir  weaknesses, 
and  are  in  a  position  to  check 
the  growth  of  evil  tendencies  in 
parents  and  in  children.  There 
is,  in  many  instances,  doubtless,  too 
much  formality  in  the  character 
of  these  visits— a  disposition  to  drop 
into  routine  and  to  ask  stereotyped 
questions,  without  conversing  in  a  way 
to  bring  out  the  real  feelings  and  spirit 
of  the  households  which  they  visit. 
Visits  of  this  character  are  compara- 
tively barren  of  results.  To  make 
them  as  productive  of  good  as  they 
should  be,  live,  active  men  should  be 
used  as  Priests  and  Teachers.  The 
best  ability  in  the  various  wards 
can  And  ample  field  for  usefulness  in 
performing  these  duties.  Young  men 
who  have  not  had  experience  should 
be  associated  with  those  who  have  had    | 


experience,  and  they  should  be  im- 
pressed with  the  importance  oi  seek- 
ing for  the  Spirit  of  God  to  rest  upon 
them  in  power,  to  dictate  to  them  the 
very  things  that  should  be  said  to  the 
family  which  they  visit.  The 
teachings  which  might  be  appro- 
priate to  one  family,  and  be 
the  very  instruction  which  they 
might  need,  would  not  perhaps  be  so 
suitable  for  another  family.  There-, 
fore,  the  necessity  of  having  the  guid- 
ance of  the  Spirit  of  God  is  appar- 
ent. 

THE  WELFARE  OF  THE  YOUNG. 

There  is  a  tendency,  almost  amount- 
ing to  an  epidemic  in  some  places, 
among  the  youog  people  to  indulge  in 
cigarette  smoking.  The  habit  is  filthy, 
unhealthy,  and  pernicious  geuerally. 
God  has  spoken  so  plainly  on  this  sub- 
ject that  there  is  no  room  to  question 
the  impropriety  of  this  practice.  The 
Teachers  should  make  it  their  especial 
business,  in  all  kindness  and  in  a  mild, 
instructive  spirit,  to  reason  and  re- 
monstrate with  young  people  upon 
this  habit.  Every  effort  should  be 
made  to  check  its  growth  amongst  us. 
The  habit  also, which  some  young  peo- 
ple fall  into,  of  using  vulgarity  and 
profanity,  is  one  which  should  receive 
the  attention  of  Teachers.  This 
practice  is  not  only  offensive  to  all 
well-bred  persons,  but  it  is  a  gross  sin 
in  the  sight  of  God,  and  should  not  ex- 
ist among  the  children  of  the  Latter- 
day  Saints. 

At  the  Priesthood  meetings  of  Wards, 
Bishops  and  Counselors  and  other  ex- 
perienced Elders  can  do  great  good  to 
the  young  men  by  imparting  to  them 
instruction  upon  these  points  and  giv- 
ing them  explanations  concerning 
questions  which  they  may  be  asked 
upon  the  live  issues  and  topics  of  the 
hour.  There  is  a  body  of  young  men 
growing  up  in  Zion,  who,  if  taught  as 
they  should  be,  can  be  made  most 
efficient  in  building  up  the  Church  and 
in  strengthening  its  members  against 
the  various  temptations  to  do  wrong 


to  which  they  are  exposed.  These 
yoftig  men  are  generally  full  of  zeal 
and  energy  and  good  desires,  and  only 
need  to  be  directed  aright  to 
accomplish  immense  results. 

PROVIDING  EMPLOYMENT. 

Connected  with  our  temporal  labors 
there  is  probably  no  point   of   more 
importance  than  the  providing  of  em- 
ployment for  our  people.    The  spirit 
of  the  Gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
is  opposed  to  idleness.    We  do  not  be- 
lieve that  a  man  wh©  has  that  spirit 
can  rest  content  if  he  is  not  busily  em 
ployed.    There  are    many   who  come 
from   other  parts   who  have   been  ac- 
customed to   following    branches   of 
trade   at   which  they  cannot  find  em- 
ployment here.      There   are    a    great 
many   young   men  and  young  women 
growing  up  also,  who  do  not  have  the 
necessary  experience  or  kaowledge  to 
employ     themselves.       These    cases 
should  receive  the  attention  and  con- 
sideration of  the  Bishops  and  Presi- 
dents and  other  officers  of  the  Church. 
We  should  aim  to  create  industries  at 
which     the     people     can    find     em- 
ployment.    If     all     who     have     the 
influence   of  position,  or  the    power 
that  the  control  of  means  gives,  would 
keep   this   subject  constantly    before 
them  and  work  unitedly  in  the  proper 
direction,    a   great     many    industries 
might  be  started  in  this  Territory  that 
would  result  in  profit  to  their  founders 
and  give  fixed   employment  to  many 
who  are  now  in  want  of  it.    In  every 
Ward  or  Stake  where  there  are  oppor- 
tunities  of   this   character,  judicious 
men  should  be    selected  to   take  the 
direction  of  such  affairs  and  to  make 
wise  investments,  so  that  discourage- 
ment will  not  follow  through  the  loss 
of  means  or  the  unskilful  handling  of 
the  business. 

LEGISLATIVE  AND    JUDICIAL  TYRANNY. 

Erom  the  day  of  the  organization  of 
the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter- 
day  Saints,  the  adversary  of  souls  has 
stirred  up  the  wicked  to  accomplisn  its 
destruction.  Various  agencies  have 
been  employed  to  effect  this  purpose. 


Falsehood,     tradition,     deep  -  rooted 
piejudice,    the   learning,    wealth   and 
power  of  Christendom,  mob  violence, 
fire,  fetters,  the  rifle  and  the  sword, 
wholesale  expulsion  and  military  force 
having  been  tried  in  vain,  a  new  cru- 
sade has  been  inaugurated  in  the  form 
of    legislative   and    judicial   tyranny, 
prompted  by  Satan  and  carried  on  by 
cunning  adventurers  and  reckless  fa- 
natics.      Perhaps  the   most   shameful 
and  unrepublican  attempt  of  this  char- 
acter was   the  latest   scheme  devised 
by   the   local  conspirators.     What  is 
known  as  the  Edmunds  law— the  act 
of  March  22nd,  18S2— was  hoped  to  be 
broad  enough  in  its  intended  scope  tQ 
secure  the  political  control  of  the  Ter- 
ritory to  the  anti-"Mormon"  voters. 
Alarjre  number  of  both  sexes  were  by 
that  ace   deprived    of   the    franchise. 
That    it  did    not  wrench  the  control 
of  the  Territory  out  of  the  hands  of 
the  majority  of   its  residents,  is  not 
to  be  credited  to  the  absence  of  such  a 
wish  and  design  on  the  part  of  its  au- 
thors and  promoters,  but  to  the  over- 
ruling  providence    of   the   Almighty. 
The  ground  which  those  who  favored 
this  measure  seemed  to  take  was,  that 
it  was  both  praiseworthy  and  justifia- 
ble to  violate   the  soundest   political 
principles,  and  even  the  Constitution 
itself,  to  take  the  political  control  of 
the  Territory  of  Utah  from  the  "Mor- 
mon" majority  and  concentrate  it  in 
the  hands  of  the  anti -"Mormon"  mi- 
nority.   Having  gone  thus  far  to  ac- 
complish this  end,  it  was  scarcely   to 
be  expected    they  would  hesitate  to 
make  other  and  more  outrageous  at- 
tempts, when  they  found  that  the  Ed- 
munds law  had  not  answered  the  full 
purpose  for  which  it  was  intended.    It 
appears  to  be  one  of  the  effects  which 
follow  a  departure  from  sound  repub- 
lican and  constitutional  principles  like 
the  enactment  of  such  a  strange  piece 
of     legislation     as      the      Edmunds 
law,     that      every     future     attempt 
in  the  same  direction  will  be  more  re- 
gardless of  the  settled   principles   of 
political  liberty  than  its   predecessor. 


The  Edmunds  law,  instead  of  appeas- 
ing the  anti-,4Mormon"  appetite  tor 
power,  only  whetted  it.  The  success 
of  its  promoters  in  securing  its  pas- 
sage, and  the  results  which  have  fol- 
lowed, emboldened  them  to  make  the 
most  extraordinary  demands  upon 
Congress  for  further  legislation.  Em- 
issaries from  Salt  Lake  City  were  em- 
plojed  and  sent  to  Washington,  sus- 
tained by  funds  levied  upon  and  col- 
lected from  the  non  "Mormon"  popu- 
lation of  the  Territory,  to  secure  the 
passage  of  a  law  which  would  bind  the 
"Mormon"  people  nand  and  foot,  and 
leave  them, their  liberties, their  proper- 
ty and  all  that  makes  life  valuable  and 
desirable,  at  the  feet  of  their  deadly 
enemies.  They  did  not  appear  to  doubt 
that  their  demands  for  legislation  of 
this  character  against  us  would  meet 
with  ready  acceptance  on  the  part  of 
the  National  Legislature  and  the  pub- 
lic generally. 

On  the  first  day  of  the  rirst  session 
of  the  Forty-ninth  Congress,  Senator 
Edmunds  introduced  a  bill  (numbered 
10  on  the  Senate  calendar)  which  con- 
tained shameful  unrepublican  features, 
the  evident  purpose  of  which  was  to 
entirely  destroy  all  the  liberties  of  the 
majority  of  the  people  of  Utah.  There 
were  a  few  Senators  wbo  stood  up 
manfully  and  resisted  the  passage  of 
this  measure  as  an  attack  upon  re- 
ligious liberty;  but  their  protests  and 
arguments  were  in  vain.  The  bill 
passed  the  Senate  and  was  sent  to  the 
House.  It  was  ably  discussed  before 
the  Judiciary  Committee  of  the  House 
by  our  friends,  and  everything  was 
done  that  was  possible  to  enlighten 
that  committee  concerning  the  affairs 
of  Utah  and  the  conspiracy  which  ex- 
isted here  to  obtain  the  political  con- 
trol of  the  Territory.  A  new  bill  was 
reported  by  the  chairman  of  that  com- 
mittee, as  a  substitute  for  the  Senate 
bill,  and  the  provisions  of  the  new  bill 
were  found  to  be  equally  objectionable 
with  the  bill  for  which  it  was  a  substi- 
tute. The  measure  was  modified  and 
changed  by  wiser  and  more  conservative 


legislators,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of 
those  who  inspired  it— a  result  which 
we  view  as  due  to  the  ove  ruling  povv 
er  of  Providence  and  the  reluctance  of 
some  reasonable  public  men  to  sanc- 
tion a  measure  so  utterly  subversive 
as  this  was  of  the  rights  of  citizens. 
An  agreement  was  reached  by  the  Con- 
ference Committee,  composed  of  mem- 
bers of  the  Senate  and  of  the  House, 
and  in  its  amended  form  the  bill  was 
reported  to  both  houses,  and  passed 
without  alteration.  It  finally  became 
law,  without  theftigqature  of  the  Presi- 
dent. In  its  original  form  the  palpa- 
ble intention  was  to  destroy  the 
Church. 

It  is  generally  admitted  that  no  such 
law  was  ever  enacted  in  this  country 
before;  and  to  find  its  parallel 
one  must  search  the  records  of 
mediaeval  times,  when  men's  ideas 
of  liberty  were  confined  to  such  grants 
as  despotic  governments  and  rulers  re- 
luctantly chose  to  give  them.  The  provi- 
sions interfering  with  the  property  of 
the  Church,  and  looking  to  the  es- 
cheating or  other  disposition  of  its 
funds  in  a  manner  contrary  to  the  in- 
tention of  the  donors,  are  in  violation 
©f  ecclesiastical  rights  and  in  the 
nature  of  confiscation  and  spoliation. 

The  disfranchisement  of  all  the 
women  voters,  without  cau-^e  and 
without  even  the  allegation  of  crime 
against  them,  is  an  arbitrary  exercise 
of  despotic  power  without  parallel  in 
republican  history.  No  reasonable  ex- 
cuse can  be  offered  for  such  an  inva- 
sion of  political  rights  exercised 
without  hiudrance  for  seventeen  years ; 
and  the  vr.in  pretence  of  the  enemies  of 
the  Latter-day  Saints  that  they  wish 
to  rescue  the  woman  of  Utah  from 
bondage  has,  by  this  outrage  upon 
freedom,  been  effectually  silenced  for- 
ever. Taken  with  other  portions  of  the 
law  it  betrays  an  attempt  to  pave  the 
way  for  the  domination  of  the  major- 
ity by  the  minority,  because  the 
former  is  composed  of  members  of 
an  unpopular  Church.  It  should  be 
the    purpose    of     good   citizens    and 


% 


faithful  Latter-day  Saints  to  maintain 
the  liberties  which  are  dear  ttb  every 
citizen,  by  all  legal  and  consistent 
means  within  their  power.  And  while 
many  of  the  men  and  women  who,  with 
divine  assistance,  opened  this  region 
to  human  occupation  and  fitted  it  for 
civilized  existence,  are  arbitrarily  de- 
prived of  any  personal  participation  in 
Its  government,  it  becomes  the  duty  as 
well  as  the  privilege  of  those  who  can 
do  so  under  the  operation  of  unjustly 
discriminating  laws,  to  stand  up  man- 
fully and  use  ail  diliSence  and  vigi- 
lance in  the  retention  aud  prevalence 
of  the  local  rule  of  the  local  majority. 
In  thus  sustaining  the  right  and  assist- 
ing in  tne  prevention  of  wrong,  they 
will  hare  the  blessings  of  a  just  God 
and  the  approval  of  an  enlightened 
conscience. 

A  redeeming  feature  of  the  new  law 
is  the  exemption  of  wives  who  are 
viewed  as  legal  from  testifying  against 
their  husbands  in  cases  arising  under 
the  Edmunds  act.  This  and  the  de- 
cision of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  condemning  the  segre- 
gation system,  by  which  the  extreme 
penalties  imposed  by  law  were  un- 
lawfully multiplied  upon  "Mormon" 
defendants,  are  cutting  rebukes  to  the 
Utah  Courts  and  District  Attorney,  for 
their  excesses  and  malice  in  pursuing 
persons  acting  under  the  strongest  re- 
ligious convictions.  The  relief  thus 
afforded  to  many  subjects  of  judicial 
persecution  would  doubtless  be  con- 
siderably extended,  if  other  extreme 
rulings  of  the  Utah  Courts  were  re- 
viewed by  the  highest  tribunal  of  the 
land. 

As  to  whether  the  Church  is  a 
corporation,  grave  doubts  are  enter- 
tained. This  is  a  question  yet  to  be 
determined.  But  if  it  should  be  decid- 
ed that  it  is  a  corporation,  is  it  pos>i 
ble  that  after  a  Territory  has  gianted 
a  charter  of  incorporation,  and  Con- 
gress has  for  long  years  permitted 
the  Territorial  act  to  stand  unchal 
lenged  and  unquestioned,  the  latter 
body  can  now  revoke  the  charter  and 


appropriate  the  proceeds  of  the  prop- 
erty to  such  uses  as  the  majority  of 
Congress  may  designate?  If  this  be 
possible,  well  may  we,  with  all  the 
people  of  the  Territories,  ask :  Are  we 
living  under  a  government  of  law,  or 
are  we  and  all  our  rights  as  freemen 
subject  only  to  the  whim  and  caprice 
of  Congress? 

The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  in  19  Howard,  page  499,  said : 
"The  power  of  Congress  over  the  per- 
son and  property  of  a  citizen  can  never 
be  a  mere  discretionary  power  under 
our  Constitution  and  form  of  govern- 
ment. The  powers  of  the  government 
and  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the 
citizen  are  regulated  and  plainly  de- 
fined by  the  Constitution  itself,  and 
when  a  Territory  becomes  a  part  of 
the  United  States,  the  Federal 
Government  enters  into  possession 
in  the  character  impressed  upon 
it  by  those  |who  created 
It  enters  upon  it  with  its  powers 
over  the  citizen  strictly  defined  and 
limited  by  the  Constitution  from  which 
it  derives  its  own  existence,  and  by 
virtue  of  which  alone  it  continues  to 
exist  as  a  government  and  sovereignty. 
It  has  no  power  of  any  kind  beyond  it, 
and  it  cannot  when  it  enters  a  Terri- 
tory of  the  United  States  put  off  its 
character,  and  assume  discretionary  or 
despotic  powers  which  the  Constitu- 
tion has  denied  to  it.  It  cannot  create 
for  itself  a  new  character  separate 
from  the  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
and  the  duties  it  owes  to  them  under 
the  provisions  of  the  Constitution." 

To  appropriate  the  property  of  a 
private  corporation  by  saying  that 
all  beyond  a  certain  value  shall 
escheat  to  the  Government  is  an  act 
worthy  of  the  dark  ages  when  the  right 
of  the  state  to  such  property  was 
maintained  by  feudal  theories.  In 
latter  days  the  more  equitable  doctrine 
prevails,  even  when  corporations  are 
dissolved  for  violation  of  law,  that  the 
property  of  the  defunct  corporation 
goes  to  the  corporators. 

As  has  been  well  said  by  the  court  in 


the  case  of  Wilkinson  vs.  Leland,  (2 
Peters  65)  in  dealing  with  the  question 
of  taking  the  property  of  one  and  liv- 
ing it  to  another,  without  judicial  in- 
quiry and  by  legislative  enactment: 
"That  government  can  scarcely  be 
deemed  free,  where  the  rights  ot  prop- 
erty are  left  solely  dependent  upon  the 
will  of  the  legislative  body,  without 
any  restraint.  The  fundamental  maxim 
of  all  free  governments  seems  to  re- 
require  that  the  rights  of  personal 
liberty  and  of  private  property  should 
be  held  sacred.  *  *  * 

A  different  doctrine  is  utterly  incon- 
sistent with  the  great  and  fundamental 
principles  of  a  republican  govern- 
ment and  with  the  right  of 
the  citizens  to  the  free  enjoyment 
of  their  property  lawfully  acquired." 

Iu  a  case  which  was  appealed  to  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court,  (Terrett 
vs.  Taylor,  9  Cranch,)  which  involved 
church  property,  that  the  Legislature 
of  the  State  of  Virginia  had  undertak- 
en to  take  from  the  corporations  hold- 
ing it-and  turn  over  to  trustees,  as  this 
law  attempts  to  do,  Judge  Story  said : 
•'But  the  property  was,  in  fact  and  in 
law,  generally  purchased  by  the  par- 
ishioners or  acquired  by  benefactions 
of  private  donors.  The  title  thereto 
was  indefeasibly  vested  in  the  churches, 
or  rather  iu  their  legal  agents.  It  was 
not  in  the  power  ot  the  crown  to  seize 
or  assume  it,  nor  of  the  Parliament 
itself  to  destroy  the  grants,  unless  by 
the  exercise  of  a  power  the  most  arbi- 
trary, oppressive,  and  unjust,  and  en- 
dured only  because  it  could  not  be  re- 
sisted. It  was  not  forfeited,  for  the 
churches  had  committed  no  offense. 
The  dissolution  of  the  regal  govern- 
ment no  more  destroyed  the  right  to 
possess  or  enjoy  the  property  than  it 
did  the  right  of  any  other  corporation 
or  individual  to  his  or  its  own  proper- 
ty. *  *  *  *  We  think  our- 
selves standing  upon  the  principles 
of  natural  justice,  upon  the  fun- 
damental laws  of  every  free  gov- 
ernment, upon  the  spirit  and  letter 
of    the   Constitution     of    the  United 


States,  and  upon  the  decision  of  the 
most  respectable  judicial  tribunals,  in 
resisting  such  doctrine." 

It  seems  to  plain  men  that  this  new 
law,  in  its  attempt  to  seize  and  dispose 
of  our  property,  lawfully  acquired,  is 
in  direct  conflict  with  the  provision  of 
the  Constitution  which  declares  that 
"no  person  shall  be  deprived  of  life, 
liberty  or  property  without  due  pro- 
cess of  law."  A  well  known  writer  has 
said :  "They  have  first  of  all  to  remove  a 
very  stubborn  prejudice  which  has 
been  confirmed  by  immemorial  usage 
that  what  a  person  honestly  acquires 
and  legally  possesses  is  his  own  and 
not  another's." 

THE  TEST  OATH. 

Probably  no  portion  of  this  law  has 
received  so  much  attention  since  its 
passage  as  the  section  containing  what 
is  known  as  the  "test  oath."  The 
municipal  election  at  Brigham  City, 
immediately  after  the  bill  became  law, 
and  the  pressing  necessity  for  a  de- 
cision 'on  the  part  of  those  who  are 
eligible  to  vote  in  order  that  they  might 
register,  forced  this  point  in  the  law 
into  immediate  prominence  Our  ene- 
mies have  circulated  the  most  atro- 
cious falsehoods,  accusing  our  people 
of  resorting  to  perjury  when  by  so  do- 
ing they  could  shield  themselves  and 
friends  from  punishment;  but  none 
knew  better  than  they  that  in  making 
these  charges  they  were  uttering  de- 
liberate untruths.  The  proof  of  their 
falsity  has  been  witnessed  in  the  Feder- 
al Courts  every  day  during  the  past 
thirty  months,  when  Latter-day  Saints 
were  being  tried  for  taking  care  of  and 
acknowledging  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren, and  refused  to  give  the  promise 
which  the  courts  endeavored  to  extort 
from  them  under  an  assurance  that  if 
they  would  only  make  it— which  they 
were  told  they  might  easily  do— they 
should  be  permitted  to  go  unpunished. 

Having  tender  consciences  upon  the 
subject  of   saying  or   doing  anythin 
that    would  have  even  the  appearance 
of  relinquishing  any  principle  of  their 


religion,  oV  people  have  carefully  ex- 
amined this  oath  and  fully  weighed  the 
effect  the  taking  of  it  would  have  upon 
themselves,  their  children  and  the 
world  at  large.  Understanding  fully, 
therefore,  all  its  consequences,  they 
who  can  do  so  have  generally  resolved 
to  take  the  oath.  But  their  willingness 
to  do  so  does  not  divest  it  of  its  enor- 
mity or  unconstitutional  character. 
The  rule  of  law  is  that  a  man  is  pre- 
sumed innocent  of  offenses  and  of  the 
intention  to  commit  offenses  until  he 
is  proven  guilty.  But  by  this  iaw  it  is 
presumed  that  the  citizens  of  this 
Territory  are  disposed  to  violate  the 
law  and  they .  must  therefore  rebut 
the  presumption  by  taking  the 
oath!  If  the  oath  was  expurgatory, 
and  to  be  required  of  people  who  had 
been  in  rebellion,  it  might  have  a  show 
of  justificatioE ;  but  to  require  such  an 
oath  as  this  from  citizens  who  have 
violated  no  law  is  without  a  parallel 
even  among  despotic  governments. 

CONSTITUTIONAL  GUARANTEES 
TRAMPLED  UPON. 

It  is  extraordinary  to  what  extremes 
men  will  go  in  their  eagerness  to  strike 
a  blow  at  the  Church  of  Christ.  We 
felt  this  when  the  Edmunds  law  of  1882 
was  enacted;  but  this  feeling  became 
one  of  amazement  when  the  second 
Edmunds  bill  was  rushed  through  the 
Senate  at  the  first  session  of  the  49th 
Congress,  and  afterwards,  in  a  re- 
modeled form,  through  the  House  of 
Representatives  in  the  second  session 
of  the  same  Congress.  That  a  power- 
ful government  like  ours,  representing 
a  population  of  fifty-five  millions  of 
people,  should  magnify  the  words  and 
acts  of  a  community  numerically  as 
weak  as  our  Church  is,  and  exert  itself 
in  so  tempestuous  a  manner  to  destroy 
its  influence  and  growth,  is  sufficiently 
remarkable  to  excite  surprise;  but 
when  to  effect  this  the  very  principles 
upon  which  the  whole  superstructure 
of  government  rests  are  dis- 
carded, and  the  Constitution  it- 
self and  its  guarantees  are  trampled 


upon,  then  the  feeling  becomes  one  of 
wonder  at  the  madness  which  seems  to 
take  possession  of  men  when  what  is 
called  the  "Mormon  question"  comes 
up  for  discussion  and  action.  In  the 
haste  and  zeal  of  this  madness  to  des- 
troy our  religion,  settled  principles  of 
jurisprudence  are  disregarded,  evil 
precedents  are  established,  and  men 
talk  and  act  as  if  it  were  absolutely  es- 
sential to  the  happiness  of  the  people 
of  the  republic  to  override  every  true 
principle  of  government  to  strike  down 
the  majority  of  the  people  of  Utah.  It 
is  easy  to  predict  what  the  result  of 
this  contemptuous  disregard  of  the 
rights  of  citizens  and  the  written 
pledges  of  the  Constitution  will  result 
in.  The  precedents  now  being  made 
will,  in  the  not  distant  future,  be  in- 
conceivably fruitful  of  evil  to  the  peo- 
ple of  this  republic.  No  people  or 
government  can  defy  the  sound  prin- 
ciples of  law  which  are  essential  to  the 
correct  administration  of  justice  and 
to  the  maintenance  of  the  rights  of  its 
citizens,  without  calling  into  exist- 
ence forces  which  are  calculated  to  lead 
to  its  destruction. 

UNJUSTIFIABLE  CONDUCT  OP  OFFICIALS 

There  has  been  no  cessation  in  the 
annoyances,  persecutions  and  unjusti- 
fiable conduct  from  which  our  people 
have  suffered  at  the  hands  of  those 
clothed  with  a  little  brief  authority  as 
officials  in  our  midst.  Unlawful  co- 
habitation, an  offense  which,  under 
the  law,  is  a  misdemeanor,  is  magni- 
fied into  a  crime  of  great  turpitude, 
and  more  zeal  is  maniiested  in  seeking 
to  ferrit  but  and  punish  those  who  are 
accused  of  it  than  there  is  in  dealing 
with  all  the  other  crimes  on  the  calen- 
dar. All  other  offenses,  however 
gross  and  horrid,  appear  to  sink  into 
insignificance  in  the  eyes  of  our  Fed- 
eral officials  in  comparison  with  the 
act  of  a  man's  caring  for,  furnishing, 
or  even  visiting  his  wives,  taken  by 
him,  as  he  believes,  in  accordance 
with  a  command  of  God,  and  his  chil- 
dren born  to  him  in  such  wedlock.    In 


former  Epistles  we  have  described  the 
conduct  of  some  of  these  officials  in 
fitting  language.  Upon  slight  pretexts, 
and  where  presumption  merely  exists, 
men  are  still  arrested  and  treated  with 
an  indefensible  severity  which  is  noth- 
ing less  than  persecution,  and  which 
lifts  those  who  endure  it  on  to  the 
plane  of  martyrs.  The  treatment  of 
the  Latter-day  Saints  in  these  Terri- 
tories under  the  Edmunds  law 
will  yet  be  read  with  surprise 
and  wonder,  when  the  tacts  all 
become  known.  That  American  citizens 
should  receive  such  usage  in  a  gov- 
ernment like  ours  professes  to  be, 
would  appear  incredible  if  it  were  not 
substantiated  by  convincing  proofs. 
Aged  men,  whose  lives  have  been  up- 
right and  honorable, and  against  whom 
not  a  word  of  reproach  can  be  uttered, 
have  been  ruthlessly  and  barbarously 
consigned  to  prison  cells  because  they 
were  too  manly  to  disavow  their  fami- 
lies and  to  break  the  solemn  covenants 
which  they  made  in  the  presence  of 
heaven  with  their  wives. 

But  this  has  not  been  the  extent  of 
the  inhumanity  of  those  who  have 
taken  upon  themselves  the  role  of  per- 
secutors. Blood  has  been  shed,  and 
that  in  a  most  dastardly  and  cruel 
manner.  Edward  M.Dalton,  a  respect- 
able young  man,  of  good  family  and 
connections,  while  unsuspectingly 
riding  in  the  streets  of  Parowan,  was 
hailed  by  a  deputy  marshal— William 
Thompson,  Jr.— concealed  behind  a 
fence,  and  simultaneously  shot  in  the 
back.  He  fell  from  his  horse  and  died 
shortly  after.  His  slayer  was  indicted 
for  manslaughter  by  a  grand  jury 
which  he  himself  had  summoned  on 
open  venire,  and  was  tried  in  the 
Second  District  Court,  at  Beaver, 
the  prosecuting  attorney  mak-' 
ing  what  was  virtually  a  plea 
in  his  behalf,  and  he  was  acquitted. 
No  other  result  could  have  been  ex- 
pected under  the  circumstances,  with 
such  a  jury,  such  a  court,  and  such  a 
prosecuting  officer;  for,  it  is  only  the 
truth  to  say,  the  deed  was  viewed  with 


satisfaction  and  approval  by  many,  and 
defended  as  an  act  that  was  entirely 
justifiable.  It  might  be  thought  that, 
after  such  an  occurrence,  such  a  man 
would  be  quietly  set  aside  and  kept 
from  public  notice.  But,  alas!  for  our 
country  and  the  evil  days  upon  which 
we  have  fallen,  this  man  is  now  re- 
tained in  the  employ  of  the  government 
and  acts  as  a  deputy  marshal! 

Edward  M.Dalton  died,  it  maybe 
said,  a  martyr  to  the  principles  of  re- 
ligious freedom.  His  innocent  blood 
was  shed  without  provocation.  His 
name  will  yet  stand  out  in  history  as 
that  of  a  victim  to  religious  hate,  and 
his  memory  will  be  cherished  by  his 
family  and  friends  and  our  entire  com- 
munity with  loving  veneration. 

Elder  Lorenzo  Snow,  one  of  the 
Twelve  Apostles,  was  sentenced  by 
the  First  District  Court  to  eighteen 
months'  imprisonment  in  the  peniten- 
tiary and  $900  fine  and  the  costs  of  his 
trial.  It  was  felt  that  this  was  an  un- 
just sentence;  that  the  grand  jury,  un- 
der the  direction  of  the  District  At- 
torney, violated  the  law  in  uegregating 
the  offense  with  which  he  was  charged 
and  bringing  in  three  indictments 
against  him.  After  some  trouble  an 
appeal  was  secured  to  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court,  which  reversed 
the  decision  of  the  lower  court  and 
declared  segregation  to  be  unlawful. 
After  eleven  months'  confinement  in 
the  Penitentiary,  which  he  endured 
with  great  patience  and  equanimity,  he 
was  released  from  confinement.  The 
joy  felt  at  thi3  action  of  the  Supreme 
Court  was  universal  throughout  the 
Territory;  not  only  because  of  its 
effects  on  other  cases,  but  because 
of  the  deep  interest  which  was  taken 
in  the  case  of  our  venerated  brother. 
Though  upwards  of  72  years  of  age 
and  of  a  delicate  frame,  the  Lord  sus- 
tained him  during  his  imprisonment  in 
a  remarkable  manner,  and  he  is  now  at 
large  and  able  to  travel  and  visit  the 
Saints  in  their  meetings  and  Confer- 


10 


IN  RELATION  TO  AMUSEMENTS. 

Respecting  amusements:  We  have 
given  the  religious  work)  a  lesson  upon 
this  point.  We  have  shown  that  social 
enjoyment  and  amusements  are  not 
incompatible  with  correct  conduct  and 
true  religion.  Instead  of  forbidding 
the  theatre  and  placing  it  under  ban,  it 
has  been  the  aim  of  the  Latter-day 
Saints  to  control  it  and  keep  it  free 
from  impure  influences,  and  to  pre- 
serve it  as  a  place  where  all  could  meet 
for  the  purpose  of  healthful  enjoy- 
ment. Our  leading  men  have,  there- 
fore, gone  to  these  places  with  the 
view,  by  their  presence,  of  restraining 
all  practices  and  influences  that  would 
be  injurious  to  the  young  and  rising 
generation.  Too  great  care  cannot  be 
exercised  that  liberty  shall  not  degen- 
erate into  license,  and  not  to  convert 
that  which  should  furnish  enjoyment 
and  simple  pleasure  into  a  means  of 
producing  unhealthful  excitement  or 
corrupting  morals. 

Our  social  parties  should  be  con- 
ducted in  a  manner  to  give  grati- 
fication to  all  who  attend  them, 
however  •  delicate  and  refined 
they  may  be  in  their  feelings. 
Rude  and  boisterous  conduct  and 
everything  of  an  improper  character 
should  be  forbidden  at  such  assem- 
blages. It  is  not  always  convenient  for 
the  Bishop  and  his  counselors  to  be 
present  themselves  oh  such  occasions. 
It  would  be  well,  therefore,  to  select 
in  every  ward  a  committee  of  judi- 
cious, wise,  good-tempered  and  firm 
men  to  take  charge  of  the  social  par- 
ties, and  to  see  that  order  is  main- 
tained, and  that  no  improper  persons 
are  allowed  to  obtrude  themselves  into 
the  party  to  disturb  the  peace  and  en- 
joyment of  those  who  go  there  to  meet 
with  their  friends  and  neighbors. 
We  think  round  dances  should  net  be 
encouraged.  And  while  there  may  be 
no  harm  in  granting  the  permission 
which  was  given  by  a  circular  of  the 
Twelve  Apostles  some  time  ago,  in 
which  it  was  stated  that  one  or  two 
round  dances  might  be  held  during  the 


evening,  care  should  be  taken  that  this 
is  not  abused  or  carried  to  excess.  This 
style  of  dance  has  been  taken  advan- 
tage of  by  many  impure  persons, 
and  respectable  people  have  been 
annoyed  and  grieved  thereat,  and  have 
felt  that  it  should  be  entirely  prohib- 
ited. Committee-men  and  officers  in 
charge  of  parties  should  see  lhat 
dances  of  every  kind  are  con- 
ducted in  a  modest  and  becoming 
manner,  and  that  no  behavior  be  per- 
mitted that  would  lead  to  evil  or  that 
would  offend  the  most  delicate  suscep- 
tibilities. 

As  the  summer  months  are  ap- 
proaching, when  open  air  recreations 
will  become  common,  we  deem  it  nec- 
essary to  warn  the  Saints,  and  espec- 
ially our  young  people,  against  the  ex- 
cesses and  improprieties  tnat  often 
attend  such  public  entertainments.  In 
the  inordinate  desire  to  make  money, 
attractions  are  devised  to  draw  crowds 
of  people  together  where  the  usual  re- 
straints that  regulate  good  society  are 
greatly  relaxed,  to  the  detriment  of 
pure  morality,  and  the  breaking  down 
of  those  safeguards  which  should  pro- 
tect sobriety  and  virtue.  Pleasure  and 
relaxation  which  in  themselves  may  be 
not  only  harmless  but  really  beneficial 
to  mind  and  body,  are  often  rendered 
evil  in  the  extreme,  because  of 
their  surroundings  and  associations. 
The  thoughtless  and  inexperienced  are 
frequently  oblivious  to  the  harm  thus 
attending  something  in  which  there  is 
no  essential  wrong,  and  are  led  to  look 
with  allowance,  it  not  actual  approval, 
upon  things  that  would  shock  them 
under  other  circumstances.  The  in- 
discriminate commingling  of  the  Saints 
with  persons  not  of  their  faith  whose 
Jiabits,  history  and  purposes  are  bad  or 
'unknown  to  them,  is  fraught  with  evil 
and  to  be  strongly  deprecated.  To  ex- 
pose our  youth  to  the  contaminating 
influence  of  vile  men  and  women  such 
as  often  congregate  in  places  of  public 
amusement,  where  they  are  thrown  to- 
gether in  social  intercourse,  is  more 
than    folly;  it   is  wickedness.     It  is 


11 


proper  that  strangers  should  be  treated 
with  courtesy  and  respect  but  inti- 
macy with  them  is  not  desirable,  and 
our  young  people  should  be  cautioned 
and  guarded  against  casual  acquaint- 
anceship and  the  society  of  persons 
whose  intentions  and  influence  may  be 
of  the  very  worst  character. 

Excursion  parties  should  be  con- 
ducted by  persons  of  standing  and 
wisdom  and  under  regulations  that 
will  preclude  the  evils  that  frequently 
attend  such  gatherings.  When  ar- 
ranged for  purposes  of  speculation,  the 
promoters  are  often  too  heedless  of 
consequences  in  their  anxiety  for 
profits,  and  will  mix  together  the 
worst  of  characters  and  the  good  and 
unsophisticated,  with  results  that  can 
but  be  lamentable.  Sunday  excursions 
to  lake  or  canon,  moonlignt  trips  and 
late  bathing  trains  should  be  emphati- 
cally discouraged.  The  society  of 
persons  who  place  themselves  under 
the  baleful  influence  of  intoxicants 
should  be  avoided.  Order  should  be 
maintained  in  the  midst  of  merriment.  | 
Indecorous  language  and  conduct  ! 
should  be  frowned  down.  All  excess  | 
is  detrimental.  Temperance  should  j 
govern  in  everything.  Amusement  is 
not  the  purpose  of  life,  it  should  be 
indulged  in  only  by  way  of  variety. 
When  people  accustom  themselves  to 
constant  or  oft-repeated  rounds 
of  pleasure,  the  true  objects 
of  human  existence  are  forgot- 
ten and  duty  becomes  irksome  and 
detestable.  Children  should  not  be 
permitted  to  attend  public  gatherings 
without  older  persons  accompanying 
to  guard  them  from  accident  and  from 
the  contamination  of  the  ungodly.  The 
responsibility  for  the  evils  attending 
violations  of  these  instructions  will 
rest  upon  parentsi  guardians  and  the 
local  Priesthood  in  the  various  wards 
arid  settlements.  Persons  who  habit- 
ually desecrate  the  Lord's  day  cannot 
be  held,  in  fellowship,  and  members  of 
the  Church  who  neglect  public  worship 
and  the  partaking  of  the  Sacrament 
and  do  not  remember  the  Sabbath  day 


to  keep  i.t  holy,  will  become  weak  in 
the  faith  and  spiritually  sickly,  and 
will  lose  the  Spirit  and  favor  of  God, 
and  ultimately  forfeit  their  standing  in 
the  Church  and  their  exaltation  with 
the  obedient  and  faithful. 

SANITATION. 

Amona:  the  pressing  requirements  of 
the  summer  months  is  special  atten- 
tion to  sanitary  measures.  The  Saints 
ought  always  to  be  cleanly  in  their 
haDits,  persons  and  surroundings. 
But  during  the  heat  of  the  summer  this 
becomes  particularly  needful.  Much 
disease  can  be  avoided  by  frequent  ab- 
lutions, simple  diet  and  the  destruc- 
tion or  removal  of  all  refuse.  Cleanli- 
ness is  part  of  godliness.  Filth  is  ob- 
noxious to  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel.  It 
is  the  breeding  place  for  epidemics. 
Our  bodies,  our  houses,  our  gardens 
and  outhouses  should  all  be  kept  free 
from  uncleanly  accumulations.  Indi- 
vidual effort  in  this  direction  is  a  ne- 
cessity, and  this  should  be  supple- 
mented by  organized  regulations  in  the 
yarious  wards  so  that  the  atmosphere 
may  not  become  charged  with  the 
germs  oi  disease  and  death,  arising 
from  decaying  vegetable  and  other 
matter  festering  in  the  sun,  and  from 
unwholesome  vapors  aris.ngfrom  dirt 
and  neglected  refuse.  Let  pure  air 
and  bright  sunshine  have  free  circula- 
tion in  every  apartment;  remove  every- 
thing in  the  house  or  around  it  that 
sends  forth  sickening  odors;  avoid  the 
use  of  much  animal  food  and  of 
stimulants;  preserve  a  cheerful  spirit 
and  a  serene  mind,  and  under  the 
blessings  of  our  Heavenly  Father 
health  and  peace  will  abound  and  joy 
will  dwell  in  fthe  habitations  of  the 
Saints. 

SELECTION  OF   MISSIONARIES. 

We  are  constantly  calling  for  mis- 
sionaries to  go  to  the  various  fields  of 
labor  in  this  coantry,  in  Europe,  and 
in  other  parts  of  the  world.  The 
greatest  care  should  bo  taken  to  select 
suitable  persons  for  this  duty.  It 
often  costs  a  considerable  sum  to  send 


12 


men  to  the  field  of  labor  for  which 
they  are  selected;  hence  it  is  important 
that  proper  persons  should  be  chosen, 
that  their  time  and  the  means  neces- 
sary for  their  transportation  be  not 
wasted.  We  have  a  large  number  of 
young  men  who  ought  to  be  very  suit- 
able for  missionaries.  Our  Sunday 
schools  and  theological  classes,  and 
our  young  men's  mutual  improvement 
associations,  should  give  our  young 
men  who  avail  themselves  of  these 
facilities  an  excellent  preparation  for 
missionary  labor.  Every  young  man 
who  has  faith  should  be  taught  to  con- 
sider a  mission  to  the  world  as  an 
honorable  event  in  his  life,  for  which 
he  will  diligently  prepare  himself,  and 
whica  he  will  look  forward  to  with 
pleasure.  There  is  an  immense  field 
lying  before  us,  which  must  be  oc- 
cupied by  our  Elders  in  order  to 
fulfil  the  obligations  God  has  laid 
upon  us.  Presidents  ot  Stakes, 
Bishops  of  Wards,  and  Presidents  of 
Quorums  should  exercise  a  wise  dis- 
cretion in  selecting  for  missions  wor- 
thy parsons,  who  *41l  do  the  cause 
they  represent  no  discredit,  and  who 
will  be  useful  in  the  labor  assigned 
them. 

SUNDAY    SCHOOLS. 

We  suggest  to  the  Bishops  and 
others  whose  duty  it  is  to  appoint 
Sunday  School  Superintendents  the 
great  necessity  of  care  in  the  selection 
of  these  officers,  as  on  them  depend, 
more  than  on  any  other  persons,  the 
conduct,  progress  and  well-being  of  I 
the  schools.  An  efficient  superintend-  l 
ent  implies  a  good  school.  Three 
characteristics,  wherever  obtainable 
are  most  desirable  in  the  Sunday 
School  Superintendent— a  love  of  his 
work,  an  aptness  for  control,  and  a 
devotion  to  the  cause  of  God.  In  the 
last  named  we  include,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  a  life  consistent  with  his  pro- 
fessions, that  there  may  be  no  jar  in  the 
minds  of  his  scholars  between  the 
force  of  his  teachings  and  the  influence 
of  his  conduct.  It  is  also  desirable 
that  the  superintendent  be  furnished 


with  the  most  experienced  and  devoted 
help  that  the  ward  affords ;  as  that  of- 
ficer is  placed  at  a  great  disadvantage 
if  he  have  an  inefficient  corps  of  teach- 
ers, and  the  progress  of  our  children 
is  materially  retarded,  and  much  val- 
uable time  and  effort  ill-spent,  if  his 
labors  are  not  sustained  by  his  asso- 
ciates. 

Our  brethren  and  sisters  should  al- 
ways remember  that  the  work  of 
teaching  in  our  Sunday  schools  im- 
poses upon  them  a  moral  obligation  to 
make  their  daily  walk  and  conversa- 
tion accord  with  their  teachings.  Of 
all  lessons,  the  living  lesson  is  the 
best.  Children  are  surprisingly  shrewd 
in  detecting  inconsistencies  between 
the  instructions  and  habits  ot  their  in- 
structors. Besides,  the  teacher  who 
seeks  to  live  up  to  his  own  advice,  not 
only  benefits  his  scholars,  but.  his 
teachings  exert  a  salutary  influence 
upon  himself,  and  he  profits  by  his  own- 
lessons. 

AGRICULTURE  AND    TREE   PLANTING. 

The  winter  which  has  passed  has 
been  remarkable  for  its  mildness  in  the 
central  and  southern  parts  of  the  Ter- 
ritory. In  the  extreme  north  storms 
have  been  more  frequent  and  the  sea- 
son been  more  severe.  But,  taken  as 
a  whole,  the  winter  has  been  an  ex- 
tremely favorable  one.  The  open 
weather  of  the  past  two  months  has 
enabled  farmers  to  get  in  their  crops 
with  a  facility  and  to  an  extent  rarely 
equaled.  Good  health  has  generally 
prevailed  throughout  our  settlements, 
and  food  for  man  and  beast  has  been 
generally  abundant. 

In  former  Epistles  we  have  dwelt 
upon  the  necessity  of  improving  cur 
system  of  agriculture.  The  Saints  have 
been  counseled  to  select  the  best  kinds 
of  grains,  fruits  and  vegetables.  Our 
soil  is  admirably  adapted  for  the  pro- 
duction of  the  best  varieties  of  these 
articles,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  we 
should  not  have  them  of  as  good  qual- 
ity as  can  be  raised  anywhere  in  our 
zone.    The   same    remarks    apply   to 


13 


horned  stock,  horses  and  sheep,  and 
all  kinds  of  poultry.  It  is  only  re- 
peating a  truism  to  say  that  it  is  as 
easy  to  raise  a  good  colt,  a  good  calf, 
or  a  good  sheep,  as  to  raise  a  poor  one. 
Tree  planting  should  be  systematical- 
ly followed  throughout  these  treeless 
regions  which  we  occupy.  The  best 
varieties  of  trees  should  be  sought  for. 
In  the  early  days  we  had  to  use  quick- 
growing  varieties  that  were  easily  pro- 
cured. But  with  our  present  railroad 
facilities  we  can  select  trees  which  are 
best  adapted  for  future  use  in  building, 
for  manufacturing  purposes,  and  for 
ornament.  In  some  of  the  prairie 
States  a  day  has  been  set  apart  in  the 
spring  of  each  year  for  the  planting  of 
trees,  which  is  called  Arbor  Day .  The 
results  which  have  followed  the  devo- 
tion of  one  day  to  this  purpose  are 
said  to  be  very  marked  in  regions 
where  it  is  observed.  But  we  should 
not  confine  our  tree-planting  to  one 
day.  Every  man  who  owns  a  piece  of 
ground  should  increase  its  value  by 
planting  fruit  and  shade  trees,  and 
make  his  selection  of  the  latter  from 
those  kinds  that  will  prove  valuable  as 
timber.  The  general  planting  of  hard- 
wood trees  would  be  attended  with 
greater  profit  and  much  more  satisfac- 
tory results  than  the  wide-spread  cul- 
tivation of  varieties  of  the  cottonwood 
and  poplar.  These  latter  grow  readily 
and  afford  shade,  but  are  of  very  little 
further  use  except  for  firewood. 

MISCELLANEOUS    MATERIAL    MATTERS. 

It  is  beyond  doubt  that  the 
exportations  and  general  marketing 
of  the  surplus  products  of  our 
Territory  form  quite  an  addi- 
tion to  the  financial  resources 
of  the  people.  More  care,  however, 
should  be  exercised  in  putting  up  and 
taking  care  of  articles  intended  for 
shipment  to  points  within  the  Terri- 
tory, or  outside  its  borders. 

The  manufacture  and  care  of  butter 
should  receive  attention.  This  article 
is  among  the  most  sensitive  to  its  sur- 
roundings, so  that  cleanliness  in  every 


stage  if  of  vital  importance.  In  this 
direction  great  improvement  has  been 
made  in  the  Eastern  States;  and  it 
would  be  well  for  neighborhoods  to 
combine  and  purchase  suitable  plant 
and  machinery  and  acquire  skill  in  the 
improved  method  of  manufacturing 
butter. 

Many  of  our  Chee.«e  factories  now 
turn  out  an  article  that  is  very  desira- 
ble and  which  commands  ready  sale 
and  the  full  price  in  the  market.  There 
is  room  for  the  increased  manufacture 
of  this  product. 

The  income  of  the  Territory  from  the 
sale  of  eggs  is  not  an  inconsiderable 
item.  If  any  economical  method  could 
be  devise^*  for  preserving  them  when 
abundant  it  would  be  a  great  advantage, 
and  the  price  would  be  more  nearly 
equal  at,  different  seasons  of  the  year. 

The  dried  fruit  business  has  been 
quite  remunerative  in  the  past,  but  our 
people  need  to  be  more  careful  in  dry- 
ing. Cleanliness  is  essential,  and  the 
adoption  of  the  Alden  or  other  pro- 
cess would  help  us  to  maintain  the 
old  credit  which  our  Territory  ha'd  for 
the  excellence  of  its  dried  fruit. 

The  shipment  of  hides  from  our  Ter- 
ritory ought  to  cease,  and  tanneries 
should  b^  fostered  in  every  locality 
where  they  can  be  maintained. 

The  same  may  be  said  about  wool. 
Wise  economy  would  prompt  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  sufficient  number  of 
woolen  mills  to  purchase  and  manufac- 
ture all  our  home  grown  wool,  so  that 
instead  of  exporting  the  raw  material 
we  should  manufacture  it  ourselves 
and  pay  our  own  people  the  wages 
therefor  that  we  otherwise  have  to  pay 
to  workmen  in  other  places. 

The  Territory  exports  considerable 
grain,  lucern  seed  and  potatoes.  These 
products  have  sometimes  been  poorly 
cleaned  and  not  been  properly  assorted, 
and  this  negligence  injures  our  credit 
and  spoils  our  market.  Making  the  pro- 
fessions which  we  do  as  Latter-day 
Saints,  and  having  the  promises  of  the 
Lord  concerning  the  aid  which  He  will 
give   unto   us,    our    business  affairs 


14 


should  be  conducted  in  a  way  that  will 
show  that  our  professions  are  not 
vain. 

A  PERIOD   OF   TRANSITION. 

Tne  Chureh  is  now  passing  through 
a  period  of  transition,  or  evolution, 
as  some  might  be  pleased  to  term  it. 
Such  periods  appear  to  be  necessary  in 
the  progress  and  perfecting  of  all  cre- 
ated things,  as  much  so  in  the  history 
of  peoples  and  communities  as  of  in- 
dividuals. These  periods  of  transition 
have  most  generally  their  pains,  per- 
plexities and  sufferings.  The  present 
is  no  exception  to  the  rule.  But  out  of 
apparent  evil,  Providence  will  bring 
abundant  good,  and  the  lesson  which 
the  signs  of  the  times  should  teach  us 
is  one  of  patience,  endurance,  and 
calm  reliance  on  the  Lord.  The  result 
will  be  that  we  shall  be  stronger,  wiser, 
purer,  happier,  for  the  experience 
gained,  and  the  work  of  the  Lord,  de- 
livered by  His  Omnipotence  from  all 
the  snares  set  for  its  retardation,  or 
plans  laid  for  its  destruction,  will  yet 
triumph  gloriously  over  ail  its  foes, and 
the  infinite  atonement  of  the  Redeemer 
will  accomplish  its  perfect  work.  The 
final  victory  of  the  Saints  is  certain; 
after  the  trial  comes  the  reward. 

CONCLUSION. 

We  cannot  close  our  Epistle  without 
expressing,  as  we  have  often  done  be- 
fore, our  faith  and  hopes  concerning 
the  great  work  in  which  we  are  en- 
gaged. "The  Lord  hath  founded  Zion, 
and  the  poor  of  His  people  shall  trust 
in  it."  Our  hearts  are  filled  witn  grat- 
itude and  thanksgiving  to  our  Great 
Creator  that  we  have  the  privilege  of 
living  in  this  age  of  the  world,  and 
taking  part  in  this  great  work.  We 
feel  that  all  who  have  entered  into  cov- 
enant with  God  and  who  suffer  perse- 
cution for  His  cause,  have  reason  for 
rejoicing,  even  as  Jesus  told  His  dis- 
ciples when  He  was  upon  the  earth: 
"Rejoice  and  be  exceeding  glad,  for 
great  is  your  reward  in  heaven:  for  so 
persecuted  they  the  prophets  which 
were  before  you."    If  we  are  perse- 


cuted for  our  religion,  it  is  no  more 
than  we  have  been  taught  to  expect. 
All  who  have  been  baptized  into  this 
Church,  and  who  were  properly  ta-jght 
at  the  time,  were  led  to  expect  that 
they  would  have  to  suffer  as  our  Lord 
and  Master  and  His  disciples  did.  Our 
Sayior  has  given  us  ample  testimony 
upon  this  point.  We  need  not,  there- 
fore, be  surprised  nor  disappointed 
when  persecution  comes.  We  have, 
however,  many  great  and  glorious 
promises  made  to  us.  God  has  estab- 
lished Zion,  nevermore  to  be  thrown 
down,  nor  to  be  given  into  the  hands 
of  another  people.  The  most  encour- 
agiug  words  that  could  be  uttered  by 
Our  Almighty  Father  to  His  children 
have  been  given  to  us.  We  have  proved 
them  to  be  true  up  to  the  present,  and 
we  know  every  word  will  be  fulfilled 
that  has  been  spoken  concerning  the 
future.  They  who  fight  against  Zion 
shall  be  destroyed;  and  the  pit  which 
has  been  digged  for  our  destruction 
shall  be  filled  by  those  who  digged  it, 
unto  their  utter  destruction. 

The  enemies  of  righteousness  may 
gather  themselves  together,  and  plot 
evil,  and  effect  secret  combinations, 
and  say  concerning  Zion:  "Let  her  be 
defiled,  and  let  our  eye  look  upon  Zion. 
But  they  know  not  the  thoughts  of  the 
Lord,  neither  understand  they  His 
counsel."  The  Lord  has  stretched 
forth  His  hand  and  He  has  spoken  His 
word.  He  will  not  withdraw  it,  either, 
until  His  purposes  concerning  the  earth 
and  its  inhabitants  shall  be  completely 
fulfilled.  We  need  not  fear  nor  trem- 
ble. The  afflictions  which  our  Father 
permits  to  come  upon  us  will  be  made 
light  unto  us,  and  they  will  be  made  to 
appear  as  very  trifling  in  comparison 
with  the  calamities  that  He  has  said 
shall  come  upon  the  ungodly  inhabit- 
ants of  the  earth.  Great  judgments 
are  pronounced  upon  Babylon,  and 
they  will  be  fulfilled  to  the  very  letter. 
But  if  we  do  as  the  Prophet  says: 
"Seek  ye  the  Lord,  all  ye  meek  of  the 
earth,  which  have  wrought  His  judg- 
ment; seek  righteousness,  seek  meek- 


15 


ness;  it  may  be  ye  shall  be  hid  in  the 
day  of  the  Lord's  anger;"  we  shall  be 
saved  from  impending  evils. 

The  Lord  has  given  unto  us  an  in- 
heritance iupon  this  land,  which  He 
declares  is  a  choice  land.  He  has  told 
us  that  whatsoever  nation  shall  pos- 
sess it  shall  be  free  from  bondage  and 
from  captivity,  and  from  all  other  na- 
tions under  heaven,  if  they  will  but 
serve  the  God  of  the  land,  who  is 
Jesus  Christ.  These  words  have  been 
fulfilled  in  the  late  which  has  befallen 
nations  in  the  past;  they  will  be  ful- 
filled in  the  future.  If  we  keep  the 
commandments  of  God,  if  we  serve 
Him  with  diligence  and  full  purpose  of 
heart,  the  Lord  will  not  suffer  us  to  be 
brought  into  bondage  to  our  enemies, 
but  will  give  us  freedom,  and  maintain 
it  upon  the  land  to  which  He  has  led 
us.  We  may  rest  confidently  upon  His 
promises  to  Zion,  and  be  assured  that 
the  time  will  come  when  it  shall  be  "a 
land  of  peace,  a  city  of  refuge,  a  place 
of  safety  for  the  Saints  of  the  Most 
High  God ;  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
shall  be  there,  and  the  terror  of  the 
Lord  shall  be  there,  insomuch  that  the 
wicked  will  not  come  unto  it  and  it 
shall  be  called  Zion.  And  it  shall  come 
to  pass  among  the  wicked,  that  every 
man  that  will  not  take  his  sword 
against  his  neighbor,  must  needs  flee 


unto  Zion  for  safety.  And  there  shall 
be  gathered  unto  it  out  of  every  nation 
under  heaven;  and  it  shall  be  the  only 
people  that  shall  not  be  at  war  one  with 
another.  And  it  shall  be  said  among 
the  wicked,  'Let  us  not  go  up  to  battle 
against  Zion,  for  the  inhabitants  of 
Zion  are  terrible;  wherefore  we  cannot 
stand.'  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  that 
the  righteous  shall  be  gathered  out 
from  among  all  nations,  and  shall  come 
to  Zion,  singing  songs  of  everlasting 
joy."  These  promises  are  made  to  us 
directly,  and  the  Spirit  of  GoJ  bears 
testimony  to  us  to-day  that  they  are 
true. 

With  full  confidence  that  the  dense 
clouds  which  have  darkened  our 
horizon  during  the  past  two  or  three 
years  will  be  soon  dissipated  by  the 
bright  rays  of  the  sun  of  righteous- 
ness, and  invoking  the  blessings  that 
come  through  patient  endurance  of 
affliction  and  faithful  adherence  to  the 
right,  upon  the  Saints  of  God  in  all  the  ' 
world,  we  subscribe  ourselves, 

Your   fellowservants   in    the    great 
work  of  the  latter  days, 

John  Taylor, 
George  Q.  Cannon, 
Joseph  F.  Smith, 
First  Presidency  of  the    Church   of 
Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints. 
April,  1887. 


